


It's Never Out Of The Way For You

by hpdm4ever, MessiFangirl (hpdm4ever)



Category: Men's Football RPF
Genre: Argentina National Team, Based on Kun's car accident, Car Accidents, Clarifying: based on Kun's car accident in 2017 lol, English Premier League, FC Barcelona, FIFA World Cup 2018, La Liga, M/M, Manchester City, Minor Injuries, Old fic now posted for Quarantine2020, Phone Calls & Telephones, kunessi - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:21:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23433088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hpdm4ever/pseuds/hpdm4ever, https://archiveofourown.org/users/hpdm4ever/pseuds/MessiFangirl
Summary: When Kun breaks his rib, his first thought is, 'I'm alive! I'm alive! Thank God. Could have been so much worse.'His second thought is, 'Leo.'Truthfully, Leo isn't Kun's emergency contact. But he should be, because as soon as they ask Kun who they should call, Leo comes to mind. But Leo's in Spain, and it's never made sense with Kun at City.  When they were younger, when Kun was at Atlético, that had been a different story. Madrid was not that far from Barcelona, after all--closer than any of Kun's family back in Argentina. And so Kun had not hesitated to list Leo on all his team forms, and none of the club officials had ever thought twice about it. But once he made the move to England, things had changed. It became Pablo then, and Nicolás when Pablo moved to West Ham.None of this matters while he's trying to breathe in an ambulance in Amsterdam.
Relationships: Sergio Agüero/Lionel Messi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 37





	It's Never Out Of The Way For You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pique](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pique/gifts), [stillgold](https://archiveofourown.org/users/stillgold/gifts).



> Inspired by actual events: Kun fractured his rib in a car accident in Amsterdam in September 2017. I wrote this shortly after and never did anything with it, partially imagined writing a second part but it's sat around for ages. 
> 
> For Quarantine 2020 I'm digging up some old files and sharing them since I don't have anything new at the moment. Hope everyone enjoys, despite how old some of them are lol.
> 
> (Gifted to Pique, because hey why not, and to Stillgold bc you helped me with this at some point!)

When Kun breaks his rib, his first thought is, 'I'm alive! I'm alive! Thank God. Could have been so much worse.'

His second thought is, 'Leo.'

Truthfully, Leo isn't Kun's emergency contact. But he should be, because as soon as they ask Kun who they should call, Leo comes to mind. But Leo's in Spain, and it's never made sense with Kun at City. When they were younger, when Kun was at Atlético, that had been a different story. Madrid was not that far from Barcelona, after all--closer than any of Kun's family back in Argentina. And so Kun had not hesitated to list Leo on all his team forms, and none of the club officials had ever thought twice about it. But once he made the move to England, things had changed. It became Pablo then, and Nicolás when Pablo moved to West Ham.

None of this matters while he's trying to breathe in an ambulance in Amsterdam.

The technicians are able to fish his phone out of his pocket while he's haltingly trying to explain who Otamendi is and how it's too late to be calling anyone in England. In his head, though, he's thinking that he should call Leo--Leo should hear it from him first so he doesn't worry. Yes, it's late in Spain, but Leo would want to know.

But then they hit a bump on the road and Kun forgets everything for a bit.

When he comes back to himself, they're at the hospital and the doctors are telling him they're taking care of everything.

Or, at least he thinks they're telling him that. His English is a lot better than it used to be, but he still misses things here and there and hasn't an inkling what any of the Dutch words mean. So he smiles and nods, grits his teeth when the pain shoots through his side again. He thinks they're talking about letting him go to the airport, how the doctors back home are going to be expecting him, and how they managed to get ahold of Nicolás on the phone.

That’s good, he supposes, Nicolás will tell Leo before Leo sees it in some shitty tabloid. He doesn’t know what time it is now, but he feels a little bit better that Leo will know. Except then they're steering him to a room and telling him he has to stay overnight for observation, and Kun does not like the sound of that.

Once he's settled, he stares aimlessly at the wall. A nurse, Sarita, had returned his phone to him, without him having to ask, and he's grateful for that. But then she’d told him this was a restricted area and that phones weren't allowed to be used during the night shift. Kun had tried the puppy dog eyes, but it hadn't worked with her at all. She'd raised her eyebrows at him until he'd put it on the table in front of him and haltingly promised not to touch it.

And even then, she'd said she would be checking in on him periodically, and that noise traveled easily so she'd catch him if he tried anything.

Kun had frowned but nodded. She reminded him a little bit of his mother, and he’d actually been afraid of trying to cross her.

So now he's in bed. In silence. Staring at the wall.

It's dark in his room, the curtain drawn around him like he's a prisoner, with only a little light coming from the nearby bathroom. He has a window, but the shades are closed, and he’s pretty sure his view is of nothing. Not that he’d be able to see anything, with it being the middle of the night.

It's not so bad being alone, except the room smells too clean and the floor is too quiet. Or rather, not exactly quiet, but just so unlike the normal night noise of the city. He can hear everything here, just as the nurse had said, and so every beep and whistle or footstep echoes through his head. But there’s no voices, no faint laughter, no cars driving by or honking. It makes him want to turn on the television, find some random football match even if he doesn't know any of the players--just to hear something comforting.

A bit of something catches his eye and he turns to see that his phone is lighting up.

It's Leo.

Of course, it’s Leo. Kun stares at it for a moment, feeling strange, not expecting the call. Actually, he doesn’t know why he’s surprised—if it had been the other way around he would have called Leo as soon as he found out about an accident.

Kun strains his neck toward the doorway, wondering if his captor is nearby, but he doesn't hear her so he decides to chance it. "Leo," he says, trying to be quiet, fumbling the phone up to his ear. His lips are dry and he licks them anxiously.

"Kun!" Leo says instantly. "Are you alright?! Oh my god, Nicolás called me as soon as he heard. Are you okay? What happened? Jesus, my heart stopped when he said you'd been hurt!"

And Kun had been fine just a few minutes ago. He’d been tired and achy, but he’d been fine. It hadn’t been a big deal. But something about Leo…

Kun didn’t realize how much he needed to hear Leo's voice until just that moment.

"I--," he chokes out, hand pressing against his side when he feels a sharp pain. "I'm alright," he says thickly. "I'm alright. I'm so sorry, Leo." Tears are suddenly pricking his eyes and all he can think about is how he wishes Leo were with him. "I don't know how this happened."

"Kun!" Leo says again, sounding just as distraught. "But you're alright? It's just your ribs? Nowhere else? Your leg? Your knee? Did you hit your head?"

"No, no, none of that," Kun says trying to hold it together. He sniffs, the antiseptic smell making it hard for him to breathe. "It's just my ribs. And I just, the car hit this pole, and I was--," he abruptly stops, trying to get the words out.

He was afraid.

That's what he wants to say.

For so many reasons.

And now he won’t get to play for Argentina. He can’t play with this, and Sampaoli will call someone else up yet again. This stupid rib may have messed up his chances to be included in the World Cup squad.

If they even make the World Cup…

"It's alright," Leo says soothingly as if he’s guessing where Kun’s train of thought is headed. "It's alright," he says again. "None of that matters. Okay, Kun? None of that matters. You're alright. You're okay. That's what's important." There's some rustling in the background and then his voice is back, slightly muffled as if he's pressing his mouth as close to the phone as possible. "I want you to take a deep breath for me, okay?"

Kun sniffs again. The damn medicinal smells are nearly overwhelming now.

"I can't," he says, hand against his side again. His gown feels scratchy against his skin, but it's the ache underneath that hurts the most. "I can't, because my ribs," he says, forgetting he's supposed to be quiet. “And everything smells! It’s too much, I don’t like it!”

Leo laughs lightly. "Okay," he says. "Shallow breaths then, okay? You gotta calm down for me."

At that, Kun looks up fearfully, wondering if Sarita is nearby. "I'm calm," he protests, wiping his eyes. His moment of panic has passed him by and now he feels silly. "I'm sorry Nicolás woke you up... It's not a big deal. It was just a little accident." He wipes his hand on the blanket. "You should sleep. Probably have training tomorrow."

He tries to act like he doesn't know Leo's schedule, but the truth is that he knows it just as well as he knows his own.

Leo’s well aware of that too. And he’s quiet like he’s thinking. “Las Palmas on Sunday, but,” Leo murmurs. “I’ll see you after that.”

Kun tries to hide his relief. “You will?” he asks shakily. “It’s out of the way. Even if I'm back in England by then.”

Leo’s voice is fond. “It’s not. It’s never out of the way for you.”

Kun’s smiling through his tears now, feeling flattered like he always does when Leo even shows a hint of his true feelings. “Leo,” he says, the words on the tip of his tongue, but all of a sudden the curtain around his bed is pulled back and Sarita is standing there with crossed arms. “Uh oh,” he says instead. “I think I’m in trouble.”

“Trouble?” Leo asks, sounding alarmed.

“Sarita’s going to take my phone away,” Kun rushes out, even as his nurse puts her hand out expectedly. “But, I’m okay, and thank you for calling and see you soon, eh?!”

“Kun! Wait—!” Leo shouts, but Kun knows he’s pushed his luck and he hangs up.

“Uh, it was important,” Kun explains, even as he puts the phone into Sarita’s hand. “My friend, he was worried? And I, umm,” he stammers, feeling unnerved by Sarita’s expression.

“And now, you’ll sleep,” Sarita says, tucking the phone into her pocket. She raises an eyebrow as if waiting for something, and when Kun only looks at her timidly, she mutters something under her breath. “Silly boys, can’t ever take care of themselves.” She reaches for the blankets to pull them up to Kun’s chin, and then pulls a scarf out of nowhere. “Now, I want you to sleep with this around your ears so you don’t get sick.”

Kun stares at her blankly. “Why would I get sick?”

She shushes him and starts tying it around his head. “When you have a cold it’s good to sleep like this.”

Kun’s head is starting to get hot. “I don’t have a cold! I have broken ribs,” he protests, straining a little too hard and then having to press against his side when it complains.

Sarita gives him a look. “So? And now you won’t get one,” she says taking a step back. “But now you’re all over-excited from using the phone. Who was that on the phone, hmmm? Your boyfriend? Why didn’t he come to see you? A fragile boy like you, looks like you need a lot of care.”

Kun pouts. “I’m not fragile,” he mumbles, even as Sarita looks down at his ribs pointedly. “I’m a footballer. I’m an athlete. I can take a lot. I was just in an accident. And it wasn’t my fault.” He gains a little courage at that and then smiles. “And Leo’s in Spain. But I’ll see him soon.”

Sarita rolls her eyes. “Oh, a footballer,” she says, completely unimpressed. “Congratulations, you run around kicking a little ball for a living. Well done.” She shakes her head. “And he’d better see you soon,” she says, checking his chart for a moment, “or else he’ll have me to talk to. But for now, you’ll sleep. I don’t want to have to come back in here.”

Kun should be offended, but now that he’s talked to Leo, he’s feeling some sort of peace. So he closes his eyes and lets Sarita chatter over him, and his last thought as he drifts off to sleep is that he should tell Leo about the whole ‘scarf over the ears’ thing.


End file.
